A Forgotten Nightmare
by LenniluvsBrian
Summary: A horrible nightmare resurfaces to plague a young turtle, after having had been buried in the depths of their mind for twelve long years. Will they be able to cope, especially after the nightmare ends up becoming real once more? By Daydream & Lenni
1. A Broken Curfew

Authors: Daydream & LenniluvsBrian

A.N.: Hey! Yes, we're back again! Lol. And y'all will be happy to know, this story can & will be updated frequently! So, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only own Catarina, Marietta, Rembrandt, & all scientists! TMNT, April, Casey, Karai, Foot Soldiers, & Master Splinter are all owned by Mirage Studios. Thanks-you!

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It was nighttime in New York City, and two figures were perched on the rooftop of the red brick buildings in more historical sections of town. One was leaning over the edge, the yellow tips of her double-colored bandanna hanging over her shoulder as she fingered the leather-bound hilt of one sai.

"We could totally take them," she said as she looked over at the other figure.

Her sister shrugged as she kicked her legs back and forth from where she was sitting on the rooftop ledge. They were watching a small robbery happen in the alley below; a trio of thieves was breaking into a Mom-and-Pop convenience store. The people who owned the store were nice folks who didn't deserve to be robbed.

"C'mon, Rina, let's go…"

"Okay, but Leo said not to fight too much tonight," Catarina said as she scrambled up from the wall. "He doesn't want one of us coming back with a broken arm or a busted face."

"Screw what Leo says," said Marietta as she reached back and tightened her bandanna. She tossed a grin at her sister, "We're on our own tonight, we could at least help out some friends."

Rina smirked back, "You don't even like fighting…"

Marie pulled a sai from her belt and twirled it on her fingers, "Yeah, but this is different. I like the Jacobsons."

"Well, then, let's go," said Rina, jumping over the side of the rooftop and onto the fire escape, Marie following right after her.

The two girls quickly made their way down to where the thugs were busy robbing the place that they liked to visit. Though, they'd never let the Jacobsons see them fully, they had carried on a conversation or two with them, unknown to their older brother. They were silent, as they used the shadows to their advantage, sneaking up on the trio.

"Hey, punks!" Marie snarled, doing her best impression of her brother in red. "Yah best scat on outta here, if yah wanna see daylight!"

The three punks looked around, quickly drawing their own weapons - a knife, a crowbar, and a pistol. "C'mon out where we c'n see yah!"

"Why? You afraid of the dark?" Rina teased. "Or are you just afraid of talking shadows?"

Marietta laughed at that. "Good one, Rina!"

"Well, I try," Catarina replied, secretly pulling some shurikens out into the palm of her hand. They weren't poisonous, but they sure would hurt when lodging into a body part of any kind.

"You afraid of a fair fight, girlie?" asked one of the robbers, his voice a hard sneer.

"Oh, you wish," laughed Rina, "I live in the dark." Rina gave a nod and four shuriken, two from herself and two from Marie, pinged off the wall behind the crooks.

"I think you should drop the bags, buddy," said Marie, twisting her sai around so the point was in the front. "My sis here ain't too good with waiting. Neither am I, for that matter." She stepped out of the shadows even after her sister shook her head. She smirked, loving the reaction of shock and horror that she got.

"What IS that?" the one with the leather jacket asked. The smallest of the punks moved back against the wall, his eyes widening at the sight of them.

"Oh, c'mon, not again!" he whined, tossing his bundle of goods down on the ground, "I got jumped by giant turtles last week!"

"Well, you just ran outta luck, didn't you?" Marie said, crouching down into a defensive position. "I'll give you 'til the count of three to drop those bags." When the crooks remained frozen, she took a step towards them, "One…two…"

"Three," Rina said, leaping out of the shadows and aiming a kick at the chest of the tallest crook.

After her foot landed on his ribcage, she twisted her body and slammed her fist into his face. He went down to the ground quickly, crumbling like a wet paper sack. She was efficient and didn't like to drag out taking someone down.

"Dramatic effect, niiiice," said Marie as she elbowed the second punk in the stomach. A few more steps and a well-aimed punch in the side had him gasping for breath. "Nighty-night," she said, waving her hand in front of his face before hauling back and giving him a full-force punch right between the eyes.

Rina flicked her blue and white bandanna tails behind her back and grinned, "That was easier than I thought it'd be."

Marie nodded then pointed down the alleyway. The smallest punk was running away from the scene of the crime, his arms pumping as he huffed and puffed.

"We've got a runner," Marie said, looking back at Rina.

Her sister was already busy gathering up the money and bags and tying up the crooks. "You take him down. I'm not going to shoot him with my bow, if that's what you want," Rina said, sticking her tongue out at the distasteful idea.

Marie rolled her eyes, "Keep your shell on, Kitty."

"Doooon't call me that," Rina snapped, her eyes flashing at the old baby name.

Marie snickered as she pulled a manikiri chain from her belt and started swinging it over her head. "Hey, punk, you better keep running!" she shouted, walking towards the end of the alley, "I'm about to go Ghost Rider on your ass!"

Rina rolled her eyes as she walked into the store to put the money back. Sometimes she wondered if Marie was going to end up as just another Raphael; heavens knew they didn't need another hot-head in the family.

Marietta followed the guy, still swinging the manikiri above her head, before finally letting it swing out and quickly wrap about the thief's legs. She gave a hard yank and cheerful laugh, as he came crashing down to the ground with a loud "Oomph!"

"What's wrong? Turtle got yah legs?" She smirked, pulling him closer to her. Once he was close enough, she grabbed him by the front of his collar. "Guess I'd best say nighty-night to you too, huh?"

"N-No! Please!" The thug pleaded.

Marietta just rolled her eyes, before pressing a pressure point on his neck, knocking him out the easy way. She tossed him over to her sister to tie up. "Did he seriously think I wanted to bust my hand on his ugly mug? I mean, c'mon!"

"Well, I'm sure Leo'd be happy to know you used a pressure point, instead of a fist point," Rina commented, typing up the third thug.

"Eh," Marie shrugged. "Who says he hasta know? You know him - he don't want us out here fighting none, but Sensei says it's okay - long as we're careful and don't wander too far. Ha! Yeah, right!"

Catarina rolled her eyes at her sister, as they began to quickly climb back up the fire escape they'd come down. "If Sensei knew how much like Raph you are, he'd never let us leave the lair! More or less go on patrol!"

"Nothin' wrong with bein' like Raph," Marie argued. "He c'n be a fun guy, when he wants to be."

"Which is never!" Rina grinned.

"Ah, shaddup," Marietta replied, waving her hand at her sister, as she put her sai back in its sheath and her manikiri back in her belt. "Y'all don't know him like I do."

Catarina just laughed, as she ran across the rooftop and jumped over to the next one. "C'mon Mae-Mae! We'd best finish our patrol and get back, before Leo sends a search party!"

"Don't call me Mae-Mae!" Marie growled, quickly hurrying after her sister to catch up. "And let him send out that party! I'd like to see him try and get me home before I'm ready!"

After they had finished up their patrol, the two girls headed home over the roof tops, laughing and teasing each other as they went. Like usual, they had gone far outside of the boundaries that they were supposed to keep in. Their brothers would be getting in at about the same time that they were supposed to; these days Splinter didn't like for any of them to stay out too late. It was quite the extra workout as they bounded over the rooftops, leaping across and landing with precision on the other side of the gaps. When they came to the corner of Laird and Eastman, they dropped down to the ground and slipped down through the manhole cover to the sewers.

"We've got to look into better real estate," said Rina as she pulled the manhole cover back into position.

"Yeah, a nice condo on the beach would be perfect," said Marie, sighing at the thought of it.

"Oooh, and then I could finally learn how to surf, how perfect!" exclaimed Rina, clapping her hands together at the thought. She then noticed the time on her watch, and her mouth dropped open. "Shit, we're thirty minutes late!" she moaned, tossing a frown at Marie. "This is the third time this week we've been late."

"Grrreat," said Marie, throwing her hands up in the air. "There goes freedom! Goodbye sweet night air, I'll miss you while I'm grounded to the lair for, like, a month."

"Maybe we can slip in and they'll never notice we were late," suggested Rina, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

Marie gave her a droll look, "Oh, yeah, that'll work."

"If Leo wasn't a Time Nazi, it might," said Rina defensively, her hands on her belt.

"Did someone manage to hit you in the head tonight?" asked Marie, one eyebrow raised, "The day Leo and Sensei don't notice we came in late is the day the Irish give up drinking."

Rina grinned and they both laughed as they walked into the lair.

No sooner were they in the door, than was Leonardo at their side. "Just where have you two been!?!" He demanded, eyeing them both warily. "You're late!"

"We were enjoying the peaceful night air," Marietta shrugged. "Problem?"

"Yes, there is!" Leo replied briskly. "You have a curfew that shouldn't have been broken!"

"Leo, relax, we're okay," Catarina pointed out softly, trying to keep the peace. "Besides, who says we weren't just roaming the sewers for the past thirty minutes?"

"Well, according to the trackers Donnie snuck onto your belts, you were way over on the other side of town!" Leonardo declared.

"What!?! How dare you track us!" Marietta shouted. "We're not a couple of babies, Leonardo!"

"Don't take that tone with me, Marie! I can still take you down a peg or two," Leonardo snapped.

Marietta glared at him coldly, as did Catarina, until a throat was cleared, causing them all to look to their right.

"Catarina, Marietta, I would like to see you both in my study, in five minutes - and do not be late!" Master Splinter told them sternly, eyeing the two young girls harshly. "We have some matters we need to discuss."

"Yes, Sensei," Catarina replied, as her sister rolled her eyes in response.

"Yeah, whatever," Marietta shrugged indifferently, though she usually wasn't so rude to their father - but Leo had put her in a bad mood, and a bad mood put her in Raph mode, and Raph mode always got her in trouble.

Master Splinter ignored Marie's rudeness and retreated back into his study.

Marie gave an exaggerated huff and started to take off her belt. If Donnie had bugged her belt, she was going to find the tracker and crush it. It wasn't fair for them to treat her and Rina as if they were young children; heck, no one had tracked them when they stared crime-fighting.

Leo frowned at her, "I wouldn't do that if I was you."

"Why not? What're you gonna do, Leo, put me in time out?" She demanded as she found the tracker and plucked it off. She reached over and stuck it on Leo's hand. "There. You need it more than me, anyways, Fearless Leader."

"Marie…" he said warningly but she had already walked off, her chin thrust into the air. They could hear her crashing along the hall as she went to go throw her stuff in the room that she and Rina shared.

Leo sighed and looked over at Rina who was standing patiently nearby. "Why does she have to act like that?" he asked, sounding irritated.

Rina smiled at him, "It's really not all Raph in her, y'know."

"Oh, really? Cause that's all I see," muttered Leo, crossing his arms over his plastron.

Rina shook her head, "Nope, it's really a mixture of yourself and Raph when she gets like that. She's too proud to admit that she needs help…" Rina glanced over at Leo out of the corner of her eye, "That's the you part." Leo frowned at her and she continued, "And the anger comes from the Raph in her and they both don't like to be told what to do. There's also Mikey in her because of her goofy side, and a bit of Donnie in there because she's as smart as anything. Also, she just doesn't like not being trusted."

"It's for your own protection," said Leo, sounding exactly like the protective big brother he was.

Rina rolled her hazel eyes and patted him on the shoulder, "Leo, I love you, but you're going to have to accept that we're growing up. Just a little bit."

Leo's eye ridges raised playfully, "And this is coming from the girl who still watches Power Rangers when she thinks everyone's asleep?"

Rina gasped and socked him in the shoulder, "Leo! Don't you dare tell anyone!"

"I won't, I won't," he said, raising his hands in innocence. He nodded towards Master Splinter's office, "You better go on in, he won't like it if you're late."

"Meh, I've still got…" she looked down at her wristwatch, "Three minutes! Woo, enough time to make popcorn!" Giggling, she dashed off towards the kitchen, leaving Leo there to shake his head back and forth. If Marie was a strong mix of Raphael and himself, then Donnie and Mikey had rubbed off on Rina. She had Donnie's calming effect and reasoning capabilities and then Mikey's light-heartedness and jokester personality. From Raph, she had received passion for the downtrodden and Leo had managed to force her to be a little responsible.


	2. Extremely Annoyed

A.N.: Here's chapter two for your enjoyment! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only own Catarina, Marietta, baddies, & story idea. Mirage Studios owns everything else. Thank-you!

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Marietta slammed about in her room angrily. She couldn't believe her brothers had done that to them! Well, she could believe it, but still! They weren't babies any longer! They could defend themselves! And they were pretty dang good at it too! No where near as good as their brothers, but still good enough to be able to go out and patrol by themselves. But this - this was such a lack of distrust! This just proved to her that they still thought of her and her sister as little kids, and that ticked her off to no end! She angrily slammed her shurikens down upon her nightstand, carefully removing her sai next. She'd have to clean it up and polish it after this talking to with Splinter - there was just no way she could leave her most prized possession all bloodied and dirtied up like that! Who knew where that thug had been and what he had done and touched! She laid it upon the nightstand gently, then turned and angrily kicked a stuffed animal that happened to have fallen off her bed and onto the floor. She may've been fifteen, but she was still a stuffed animal fanatic - she could never have too many of those!

Meanwhile, Catarina was in the kitchen making her popcorn, as she'd plans to watch some T.V. before bed, after the lecture Master Splinter seemed to want to give. She could only imagine the bloodshed that would go on once in there, between him and her sister. Though, she didn't blame Marietta one bit for being mad, as she didn't like the lack of trust either - but, her logical side told her it had probably been done, as to see why they were constantly coming in late from patrol. She sighed, as she watched the popcorn kernels bounce about in the popcorn maker, before finally jumping out and into her over-sized popcorn bowl. She always loved to watch the popcorn pop! It was fun to watch and kind of funny at the same time - what could she say; sometimes it was the ever so small things that were ever so amusing. She glanced at her watch, and groaned softly as she realized her time was up.

"Hey Mikey!" She called out hoping her brother in orange was nearby.

"What?" Michaelangelo asked, sneaking up behind her and scaring her half to death.

"Gah!" Catarina shrieked, jumping, then swatting her brother a few times. "Watch my popcorn, will you? Marie and I have a 'date' with Sensei."

"Ah, so that's what's got Leo's panties all in a wad," Mikey smirked. "Sure thing, Kiddo."

"Eew! Mikey! Visuals!" Rina cried, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. "I do not wanna ever know if Leo wears panties or not! Just - eew!"

Michaelangelo laughed and kissed her head affectionately. "Run along, Rina," he told her. "You don't want to be late for that 'date', now do you?"

"Would it be absolutely horrible, if I said yes?" Catarina asked sheepishly.

Mikey rolled his eyes and gave her a gentle shove. "Go on," he said. "The faster you get there, the faster it's over with and the faster you can eat this delicious looking popcorn!"

"Don't you dare eat it Mikey!" Rina exclaimed. "I'll kick your shell!"

Michaelangelo just laughed and gave her a wink.

Rina dashed out of the kitchen, nearly running into Marie who was walking in from the hallway. She had to twirl on her heel and skip a bit in order not to crash into her sister.

Marie laughed, "That was beautiful, Twinkle Toes."

"It was either that or I'd be the turtle bowling ball and you'd be the turtle pin. And I would so win," said Rina, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"Hey, don't get cocky," replied Marie before they walked into Master Splinter's study.

Like they were supposed to, both of them entered quietly, bowed, and kneeled down on the floor. Well, Rina kneeled; Marie plopped down with disrespectful nonchalance. Rina cut her eyes at her sister and Marie scowled back. She wasn't in any mood to suck up to Sensei; let Rina do that, she liked taking on the leader role anyways. Rina sighed and looked up at Master Splinter. She hated having to be in charge, but Marie was often too much of a loose cannon to take the lead. When they were out as a two-person team, it was silently assumed that Rina would give out the orders and make decisions, whether Marie followed them or not.

"My daughters," Master Splinter started, shaking his head back and forth slowly. "Do you know why I have called you in here?"

Rina and Marie cut their eyes at each other; maybe it was a trick question. Maybe they weren't supposed to answer? Rina did anyways, "We were late, Sensei."

"And…"

"And we went past our boundaries," she continued, hoping that was what he was looking for.

"And…"

"Erm, I didn't clean my kaiken properly last night?" She was a little confused now, not really knowing what he was talking about.

"I back-talked Leo," supplied Marie in a mutter.

Rina rolled her eyes; she should've guessed that one.

"Yes," Master Splinter said, folding his fingers together in front of him on the short table. "Three disobedient acts, three instances where you did not do what you were told. And that is only in one night. You have been late for curfew three times this one week and I know that you have not stayed within your boundaries." He sighed and rubbed his fingers against his temples. "If this sort of behavior continues, I'm going to have to split you up and put you back onto teams with you brothers again."

"No way!" Marie said, shaking her head and glaring, "I'm not going back to that!"

"Master," Rina said, bowing her head towards him, "Me and Marie work perfectly as a team. I mean, we work really well with our brothers too, but we're more likely to anticipate each other's moves than any of the guys'. We're better as a two-man team than on three-man teams."

"Yes, but in order to be a good team you must follow the rules of the clan," Master Splinter reminded them. "All good teams follow certain rules that have been set forth."

"Then make some new ones," Marietta muttered. "We could sure use some."

"Marietta!" Master Splinter snapped somewhat. "Do you figure yourself to be above the rest of our clan? You do not know all, my daughter. These rules are for your safety, and the clan's safety."

"Safety my shell!" Marietta retorted. "They're to keep Rina and I on a short leash! You just don't wanna admit we can handle things ourselves!"

"Marie!" Catarina hissed at her sister, wishing she'd shut-up and not get them both into hotter water than they were all ready in.

"Well, it's true Rina! They all just think we're a bunch of babies, when we're not! We're fifteen!" Marie exclaimed. "The guys were our age when they started patrolling and all that jazz! So why are we any different!?! What, because we're girls?!?! Big frigin' whoop!"

"Language!" Master Splinter snapped, giving his angry daughter a Look which told her she'd best not press her luck anymore than she'd already had.

Marietta growled deeply in her throat, glaring back angrily. It wasn't fair she couldn't even voice her own damned opinion!

"Forgive her, Master," Catarina begged of him. "She's never happy after a run in with Leo."

"That is no excuse," Master Splinter replied. "And no one is better than anyone else in this family. We are all of equal status, though I am your Father and Sensei."

"Tell Leo that," Marietta grumbled quietly.

Catarina shot her sister a Look, ordering her to shut-up. She then turned back to their Sensei, to hear him out.

"For your lateness this week, the both of you shall be restricted to the lair for the next three nights. You were late three nights, so it is only right you are grounded for three nights," Master Splinter stated.

"Yes, Sensei," Catarina replied, bowing some, though not happy at all with that result.

Marietta sat with her jaw hung open, an incredulous look on her face. "What!?! You've got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed. "We do a good job, and all because Leo's a time Nazi, we're grounded!?!?!"

"Enough!" Master Splinter ordered. "Marietta, you are to clean your weapons, then go to bed. You seem to need the extra rest - and the extra practice you will have early morning."

"This is crap!" Marietta yelled, jumping up and glaring at their father as angrily as she possibly could. "I am not going to bed after I've cleaned my weapons! I'm not a baby! I can decide for myself!"

"Marie..." Catarina tried.

"No, Rina! Save it!" Marietta snapped. "It's quite obvious what the whole family thinks of us, and I'm not going to stand for it!"

Marie was furious with her father and her older brothers, and she wasn't going let them make her be quiet. She puffed angrily and crossed her arms over her chest. It was the only way she was going to keep herself from reaching over and grabbing a paperweight to fling into the wall.

Rina was quite certain that her cheeks had flamed into her characteristic purple blush. She was highly embarrassed by Marie's behavior. How was anyone going to treat them like adults if Marie continued to throw rages like this one? Now they were definitely going to be stuck back onto three-man teams and it was going to be Marie's fault. Argh, why couldn't she hold her flaming tongue, just this once!? Rina clenched her fists as she felt herself growing angry. This was definitely not the time to snap at her sister. Instead, she sat quietly and focused her eyes on the wood coffee table.

Master Splinter did not seem pleased with Marie's outburst at all. His dark eyes were narrowed in anger, and his fur was bristling on the back of his neck. "Marietta, this sort of tantrum shall not be tolerated. I will have to increase your punishment. Instead of three days, you are grounded for the rest of the week with increased practice. Catarina," he said, turning his head towards the blue and white bandanna'd turtle, "You shall share this punishment."

"What?!" Rina demanded, her mouth dropping open.

Splinter nodded and continued, "In addition to the extra practice, I am splitting the two of you and placing you on three-man teams again. Marietta, you shall team with Leonardo and Michelangelo. Catarina, you will patrol with Raphael and Donatello."

"No! I won't team with Leo!" shouted Marie, shaking her head back and forth furiously, "All he's going to do is ride my ass and yell orders at me."

"Responsibility is what you need to learn and Leonardo will be an adequate teacher," said Master Splinter in a grave voice. "Until you can prove to me that you can be responsible and trustworthy, you shall remain on these teams."

"Sensei, that's not fair!" Rina exclaimed, staring at her teacher.

Splinter bowed his head and sighed. "Meditate. You shall see why things must be this way," he said. "You may both go now."

Marie stormed out of the room like a small hurricane while Rina got up, managed a jerky bow and left in a quieter fashion. When they were out of the room, Marie let out an angry shout, "Damn!" She punched at the wall and immediately regretted the action as her knuckles connected with the hard brick. Rina watched as Marie shook her hand and mumbled curses to herself.

"Can you believe that, Rina?" Marie asked, obviously thinking her sister was going to side with her.

Rina only glared back at her with cold anger.

"Aw, c'mon, Rini, you can't be mad at me. I didn't know you were gonna get the same punishment as me."

Rina's hands tensed and clenched, and she ground her teeth together. Unlike Marie or Raph, she rarely shouted her anger or threw stuff around. Instead, she fumed to herself and waited until she was angry enough to explode. Right now, she was frustrated to the point of tears. She couldn't go against Master Splinter and refuse the punishment, and she definitely didn't want to have it out with Marie right now while the other turtle girl was in a bad mood. Instead, she shoved past her sister and snarled, "Thanks, Marie, thanks a lot."

"Don't you dare blame me, Rina!" Marie shouted as Rina stormed off down the hallway towards the dojo.

Rina didn't reply and that only angered Marie more.

"Ugh, it's not my fault!" she shouted towards the ceiling as she walked into the living room. She flopped backwards onto the couch and saw a dark green leg.

"When is it ever your fault?" asked Raphael as he tossed a piece of popcorn at her. He had stolen the bowl from Mikey even after Mikey had insisted that it was Rina's popcorn.

The piece poinged off her nose and she scowled at him. "Some things are my fault. But this isn't," she said, grabbing the piece of popcorn and throwing it back at him.

"Didja find the trackers?" He asked with a smirk.

Marie let out a growl, "Yeah…"

"Hey, don't let Sensei and Leo get you down," Mikey put in from where he was sitting on the edge of the couch, almost totally engrossed in the game he was playing.

Marie flopped over onto her shell and leaned her head against Raph's leg. "I'm not down, I'm frigin' MAD," she snapped, "Sensei made Rina mad at me. Why do I always have to be the bad guy?"

"I thought that was Raph's job," laughed Mikey. A pillow from the turtle in red caught him upside the head.

Rina stood in the middle of the dojo, her bow clasped in her hand. It was a perfectly balanced weapon with leather binding for the grip and highly-polished yew for the wood. It was her favorite weapon, and she slowly over the years was becoming a master at it. Of course, for close combat she used her kaiken, but the bow and arrow was her one great love. It was also her favorite form of stress relief. She sighed as an arrow thwapped into the straw-stuffed dummy's abdomen. She was so irritated at Marie and herself; she knew better than to go out so far from their boundaries. Reaching into her quiver, she pulled on a blue and white fletched arrow and knocked it onto the string. Using her excess anger, she hauled back on the string and then let the arrow fly. It struck the dummy right in the side of the head, ripping the cloth and causing most of the head straw stuffing to leak out.

"Hmm, I'll guess I'll be fixing that some time this week," said a voice wryly.

Rina turned to see Donatello in the doorway, a smirk on his face. She sighed and lowered her bow from the ready position. "Sorry, Donnie," she sighed, pushing some of her blonde hair back from her face. "I sorta got carried away."

"Pretty much the same way Marie did with Splinter, right?" Donatello smirked slightly. He wasn't stupid - they'd all heard her shouting from inside of Master Splinter's study - they had even expected it.

"This isn't going to get me in trouble," Catarina snapped slightly, giving him an apologetic look afterwards. "Sorry, Donnie. I'm just so - so frustrated! With Leo, with Sensei, with Marie! Just - everybody!"

"Well, that wasn't everybody you listed," Donatello pointed out. "You're annoyed with everyone but Mikey, Raph, and myself."

Catarina shrugged, as she went over to the dummy to fetch her arrow that had split the dummy's head. "Actually, I am annoyed with you. You're the one who made the trackers and put them on our belts in the first place!" Catarina reminded him angrily.

"Hey, I was only following orders," Donatello replied, holding his hands up in defense. "Besides, a brother is allowed to worry."

"You're over-protective, that's what you are," Rina told him flatly. "You guys just don't want us to grow up. Well, face the facts - we're fifteen! Not five! Don't let Marie's tantrums fool you, Donnie. You're supposed to be the bright one!"

Donatello looked slightly offended. "Well, if you'd rather we not worry about you, then why don't you both start following the rules, so that we can take a break from it!" He stated. "We love you and just want to protect you - even if you can protect yourselves pretty well." With that, he turned and left the dojo.

Catarina sighed heavily. Great, she'd angered Donatello - the soft-spoken, easy-going brother. Could this night get any worse? Suddenly, a sharp voice came from the den.

"Marie! You were told to go to bed!" Leonardo barked, having had noticed the girl lying on the couch between Raphael and Michaelangelo.

"Who says this ain't it, huh?" Marietta snapped somewhat, becoming annoyed once more.

"When are you going to grow up?!?" Leonardo demanded.

"The day you quit being such an ass, Leo," Marietta replied sweetly.

Leonardo was becoming quite angry and fed-up with his sister's sarcastic remarks and attitude. He advanced towards her glowering, after realizing she didn't plan getting up off the couch anytime soon. Leonardo shook his head, "You know, whatever. I don't even care anymore. Stay up as late as you want, eat as much candy as you want, do whatever you want! I'm going to bed." He started down the hallway that led to his bedroom.

"Wuss!" Marie shouted after him. She grinned at Raphael, obviously expecting praise. Instead, her brother was frowning down at her.

"That was a smooth move," he grumbled as he stood up from the couch.

"Hey, you know he is!"

Raphael pointed a finger at her and she leaned away from him, "You listen and you listen good. Leo may be a Teacher's Pet and a pain in the ass, but he is anything but a wuss. If I ever hear you call him that again, don't be shocked if my fist finds your face." Raphael then stalked off down the hallway.

The night was just getting worse and worse. Marie looked back at Mikey, "What, you gonna leave me too?"

Mikey smiled at her and took her by the arm. He pulled her into a tight hug, "Nah, kiddo. You may have the biggest mouth in the world, but I still love yah tons."

Marie smiled and snuggled down into Mikey's hug. At least one family member still loved her.


	3. Apologies, Brain Rot, & Wrong Attention

A.N.: Well, here's more y'all! Please don't forget to read & review! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only own Catarina, Marietta, baddies, & story idea. Mirage Studios owns everything TMNT. Thank-you!

* * *

After everyone had supposedly gone to bed, Donatello heard a gentle knock on his door. He had been reading instead of sleeping; Huckleberry Finn was an amazing novel. 

"Come in, Rina," he said and the door opened to reveal a sheepish looking turtle girl.

"Hey Donnie," she said, stepping into his room. She nudged the floor with her toe and looked around at the gadgets and gizmos that lined the room. "Um, whatcha doing?" she asked.

"Well, I was reading," he said as he closed the cover. "Did you want to talk about something or where you just curious about what I was doing at 2 in the morning?"

"I'm sooorry," she said remorsefully as she sat down on the floor next to his bed. She leaned her head against his mattress and sighed, "I didn't mean to snap at you, I really didn't." She looked up at Donnie with plaintive hazel eyes, "I know you guys are worried about us. We worry about you too, a lot. We just thought we had finally gained a little trust for once."

Donatello sighed and pulled her up onto the bed beside him. "Just because we bugged your belts doesn't mean we don't trust you. It'd be nice if you made more of an effort to come back on time, though." He grinned at her, "Even if it means just running extra hard in order to make curfew."

Rina laughed and then put her forehead against his shoulder.

Donatello smiled some and rubbed her shell as they sat there on his bed together. "You know Rina, nobody except maybe Sensei is mad that you two went out of boundaries. You're young, it's to be expected. It's mostly the curfew thing that's upset just about all of us. Like I said, all you have to do is run a bit faster, and maybe people would let up. Either that, or not go so far."

"But we like it over there," Catarina told him. "There are good people in the area we like to patrol."

"I'm not going to even ask how you know they're good," Donatello began. "But when you're late, it makes us worry because we don't know if you've run into serious trouble or if you're just goofing off."

"We're not trying to scare you guys any," Catarina replied. "We're just trying to do our part and patrol as best we can."

"I know, Honey," Donatello assured her, kissing the top of her head.

Catarina enjoyed his embrace and the circles he was rubbing on her shell for a few minutes more, before finally getting up and stretching. "Well, guess I'd best head to bed if I've got extra practice," she groaned. "Though I still say only Marie deserves that one..."

Donatello laughed softly. "You would say that," he commented. "And she'd say you deserved it for some reason or another."

Catarina nodded her agreement, kissed his cheek, then headed off to bed.

Meanwhile, Marietta was still up watching television, though she'd it turned way down in hopes of Master Splinter not catching her. She was being defiant, she knew that - but Raphael's harsh words towards her earlier, still plagued her thoughts relentlessly. She'd honestly thought he was going to strike her, after she'd realized he wasn't proud of her telling Leonardo he was a wuss. But he was, wasn't he? Okay, so what if he put his butt on the line for the rest of the clan all the time - he was still a big ole jerk! And she wasn't afraid to tell him that, nor was she going to back down when it came to him. Now, Raphael on the other hand...She'd back down in a heartbeat, if he appeared as frightening as he had earlier. She idolized him and only really cared to make him proud, but if he wasn't proud, then she had to have failed somewhere along the line - and that just made her feel like the biggest piece of crap ever. But she would not apologize to Leonardo! Not ever! Whether it made her brother in red proud or not, she refused to do it! She sighed heavily, flicking through the channels in attempts of finding something good to watch. Her shoulder-length brown hair with natural red highlights fell into her face, as her green eyes glossed over - from tears and tiredness, though she was attempting to fight it. She was in no mood to sleep - or watch television really, but what other choice did she have? She stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes, wondering if maybe a walk would do her some good.

In the end, she decided that a walk would probably just get her in more trouble and she didn't feel like piling up any more punishment on top of extra practice, three-man teams, and being grounded. Instead, she put in Kingdom Hearts and played that until she finally fell asleep, one arm hanging over the couch with the controller still in her hand.

Leo, first to wake up as usual, found her that way in the morning. He sighed and rubbed his hand across his eyes as he turned off the game console and flipped the TV to the news. The change of sounds didn't wake Marie up; the girl could sleep like a rock. He nudged her in the foot and she cracked open one eye.

Upon seeing him, Marie let out an annoyed grumble and flipped over onto her plastron. "Marie, get up," he said.

"Suck it…" Marie muttered into the couch cushions as she flung her arms over her head.

Leo rolled his eyes; he didn't feel like dealing with her attitude anyways. He walked on into the kitchen to make his ritual morning cup of coffee.

Mikey, amazingly, was the next one to come into the living room. "Good morning world!" he exclaimed, flinging his arms out to the lair.

"You know, Mikey, the world's never going to answer you back," said Donnie as he followed Mikey.

Mikey tossed him a grin, "I know, but I can dream big, right?"

"Suuure," said Donnie, shrugging his shoulders. He noticed Marie on the couch, "Hey, Marie, wanna wake up?"

"Wanna fat lip?" snapped Marie as she grabbed a pillow and pulled it over her head.

"Touché," Donnie said with a smile as he walked into the kitchen. It'd be Cheerios and fresh strawberries for him. Mikey was already reheating a pizza from a couple nights ago. Rina, shoving her messy morning hair out of her face, walked into the kitchen after Donnie.

"Morning," she said as she dived into the freezer.

"Cookie dough is not anywhere near healthy breakfast food," Leonardo said, knowing exactly what she was getting.

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully as she pulled a rather large roll of chocolate chip cookie dough from the freezer. "Ah, but a ninja needs sugar! It gets the blood pumping."

"More like the exact opposite," put in Donnie.

"I think cookie dough is a perfectly good breakfast!" Mikey said, waving his pizza in the air.

"Yeah, see, Mikey agrees with me," Rina said as she went scrambling around in the drawers for a knife.

"If the consumption of sugar is involved, Mikey's going to agree no matter what," said Donatello, glancing over at Mikey who was arranging gummy bears on his slice of pizza.

"Heck yeah!" said Mikey, grinning broadly. "Sugar equals good, nasty bran oatmeal yucktastic cereal equals bad."

Donatello shook his head as he poured himself a bowl of Cheerios and placed some fresh strawberries on it, before pouring the milk. He grabbed a spoon and sat down to eat, enjoying his healthy breakfast. "You know," he began, "too much sugar isn't good for you."

Michaelangelo and Catarina both gasped playfully. "Nooooo! Say it isn't so!" They wailed in unison, giggling moments later after getting up off the floor they'd both fallen too during their over-dramatic act.

Leonardo rolled his eyes at the two of them. "I think that just proved Donnie's point. It's rotted your brains out."

"Eew!" Catarina shrieked jokingly, digging her spoon deeper into her beloved cookie dough. "That's gross!"

"Hey, where's Marie?" Mikey asked, having had not noticed her on the couch. "Shouldn't she be up by now?"

"She's on the couch," Leonardo replied. "And she can wake herself up."

Michaelangelo shook his head. "Now you're being just as stubborn as she is."

"I told him they were alike," Catarina piped up, spooning her tasty treat into her mouth. "But of course, they don't listen to me."

"Yeah, well, I swear she's worse than Raph!" Leonardo exclaimed, before taking a much needed sip of coffee.

"Is that even possible?" Mikey joked.

"You didn't see her with Sensei yesterday," Rina muttered softly. "I thought she was gonna start throwing shuriken at somebody."

"Well, she'd better watch her temper," Leonardo stated. "As she's teamed with me, and I won't stand for it."

"As if we didn't all ready know that, Leo," Donatello replied, drinking the leftover milk in his bowl. They continued to talk amongst themselves as they ate their breakfasts.

In the mean time, Raphael had awoken and discovered Marie asleep on the couch. He knew just by looking at her, that someone had already attempted to wake her; otherwise her pillow wouldn't have been placed over her head in protest. Raphael smirked as he walked over to the couch. Reaching down, he plucked the pillow off Marie's head and began to smack her with it. "Get up!" he shouted, pounding her on the shell and head.

Marie sat up with a yell and tried to ward off the attack, "Raph! Raph, stoooop!" She rolled off the side of the couch and landed on the floor.

Raph hauled back and flung the pillow at her before letting out a snorting laugh, "And that's how you wake 'er up."

Marietta got up and leapt at him but he had already moved away and into the kitchen.

He nodded to the others as he sat down at the table and grabbed the milk. He chugged it straight from the jug before turning to look at Mikey, "Hey, grab me a bowl, would you?"

"Yes, Master Raphael, of course," teased Michelangelo as he went over to the cupboard to get a bowl.

"Morning, Raph," Rina said as she sat down at the table across from him. He looked up at her and grunted something that sounded like a good morning. She grinned; he never was a morning person.

Marie ran into the kitchen a few seconds later, her brown hair tousled. She was gripping a pillow and looked quite frenzied. "Raph, I am going to kill you!" she shouted, waving the pillow threateningly.

"Not in the kitchen," Leo said but Marie ignored him as she swung the pillow at Raph's head.

The turtle in red reached up and caught it as it headed towards him, yanked it out of her hand and flung it back into the living room. "Breakfast," he muttered.

"Bastard," she snapped at him as she walked over to the cupboards. She got her favorite cereal and a bowl and headed back over to the table. She sat down beside Rina who flashed her a frown. "You're not still angry at me, are yah?" Marie grumbled.

Rina replied by getting up, tossing her spoon in the sink, putting her cookie dough in the freezer, and leaving the kitchen.

Marie was getting tired of this non-confrontational form of fighting.

"You know, you owe her an apology," Leonardo stated after a moment of silence.

"An apology?" Marie repeated. "What for? How was I to know I'd get her in more trouble? That was _Sensei's_ doing!"

"Yes, well, you ought to know better than to mouth off to Master Splinter," Leonardo replied.

"Well, _excuse_ me for not being like you!" Marietta snapped. "Not everyone can kiss his feet twenty-four/seven!"

Leonardo cast her an angry glare. "This attitude of yours isn't cute anymore, Marie," he told her flatly. "It hasn't been cute since you were about four-years-old!"

"Who says I'm trying to be cute, Leo?" Marietta snapped, digging her spoon into her beloved Frosted Flakes. "Ever stop to think maybe y'all can't handle it, 'cause I'm telling you the _truth_?"

Leonardo's look darkened some. "You ever stop to think maybe you don't get treated like the age you are, because all you do is throw fits when you don't get your own way?"

"Screw you, Leo!" Marie growled, angrily stuffing a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

Leonardo shook his head, as he placed his cup in the sink, then left the kitchen all together.

"He's a point, you know," Donatello piped up finally. "The more you mouth off, the longer you'll be grounded and stuck on three man teams."

Marietta just glared at her brother in purple, in no mood to be told such things. It was _way_ too early, and already Leonardo had gotten on her last nerve.

After leaving the kitchen, Leonardo headed for the bathroom to do his business, only to glance into the girls' room that they still shared, spotting Catarina sitting on her bed looking a little sullen. He glanced around, then decided to play good big brother – least he could be that for one of them.

"Rina?" He spoke, as he entered the room after knocking on the open door to get her attention.

Catarina glanced upwards, and heaved a sigh. "What do you want, Leo?"

"Just wanted to check on my sister," Leonardo replied. "You okay?"

"Do I have any choice but to be, Leo?" Catarina snapped slightly. "I mean, every time Marie throws a fit, we i _both_ /i end up in trouble for it! If she had've just kept her big ole mouth i _shut_ /i , we could've still been out patrolling together once our grounding was up! But can she do that just once? No! She just i _has_ /i to get all in Sensei' face about everything and make us both look like little kids!"

Leonardo sat next to her. "Rina, you don't always get punished for Marie's actions. It's just, times like now, Master Splinter has to find a way to make her wake up and see the consequences of her actions more clearly, and if you have to be part of it, then he's no choice but to do it. If Marie keeps going off like she does, without controlling it, who knows what sort of trouble she'll get into while out on patrol."

"So basically, I'm her keeper," Rina grumbled. "I love her Leo, I do. But she gets on my nerves when she ends up getting me in trouble because she has problems with keeping her mouth shut!"

Leonardo draped his arm around her shoulder. "I've no doubt you love her, Rina. We all do. She refuses to see that some of us do, so she insists on rebelling more than necessary. In her own way, she's still trying to get attention – but she's getting the wrong kind of attention, so that just angers her even more."

Catarina looked up at him, a little surprised. "If you seem to understand her so well, why do you two fight all the time?"

Leonardo chuckled. "Because she's like Raph. We butt heads because she's hot-headed like him, and also because, as you said yesterday, she's stubborn like me as well."

Catarina shook her head. "Well, it still doesn't make it right."

"No, it doesn't," said Leo as he stood up, "But just because it's unfair doesn't mean that anything's going to change about the punishment."

"True," Rina sighed then she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, "Hey, Leo? You know what great revelation I remembered that I had yesterday?"

"What?" he asked, glancing down at her, expecting her to reveal some new insight about their family. She was always analyzing her siblings and the situations they got into; as much as she goofed off, it was amazing the things she noticed.

Suddenly she jumped up from the bed and took off down the hall and shouted back, "I'm faster than you!"

Leonardo shook his head before chasing after her as she raced towards the dojo. When they got there, the other four were already on the mats. Mikey and Raph were sort of sparring but neither of them was really into it at the moment. Rina dashed around their match and spun around to sit down on the mat.

"Beat yah," she said, smirking smugly at Leo.

"By cheating," he said as he crossed his arms and watched Mikey and Raph fight.

"Still beat yah," said Rina.


	4. Tempers Rise

Marie was rubbing a cloth along the length of her sai, trying to clean the blades before Master Splinter came in. She had forgotten about her precious weaponry after the fight she had had with Sensei and now she was feeling the consequences. As Master Splinter came in, she shoved the sai into their holsters and stood up to give the customary bow. She still wasn't in a good mood, but she was thinking clearly enough to see that being disobedient now would only get her in more trouble. As he took his place at the front of the dojo, the six turtle teenagers bowed in respect. This was how all formal dojo practices started. Master Splinter nodded to them to show that he accepted their respect then set them to going through a couple sets of katas. Marie went through them grudgingly; these were the boring parts of ninjitsu. When they finished those, they went on to working on the different moves they had learned earlier that week. Well, that was what the girls were doing. The guys were experienced enough to make their own moves up so they were busy perfecting those.

Catarina was busy trying to perfect her flying roundhouse kick, as she was having problems with it - she kept falling over. But, she was determined to get it right - though wishing they'd learned this move when they were younger, as they'd had more fun jumping around then. She jumped up, kicked and attempted to spin all at once, only to fall down upon her mat once more.

"This is nuts!" She grumbled to herself. She paused a moment, to watch her sister attempt the kick and was surprised when she actually made it three quarters of the way there.

Marie felt someone watching her and glanced over at her sister, smirking. She'd actually practiced the move some while out on patrol the night before, though they weren't to use any new moves on patrol until they'd been perfected - but she was so busy being defiant, how else was she going to get any practice in? There was no way she'd hang out in the dojo any longer than she had too - so, she always made sure to practice elsewhere, occasionally.

Catarina rolled her eyes, and resumed practicing the kick for herself. She'd just finally gotten the hang of it, when Master Splinter decided it was time for weapons katas. She gladly pulled her kaiken out and bowed, before beginning her kata. While doing her kata, she couldn't help but notice that her sister seemed a bit hesitant to retrieve her sai - and when she finally did, she suddenly for the first time ever, moved with lightning speed. What in the world was going on? Her sister _never _moved that fast! _Ever_! Not unless she was trying to beat the crap out of someone. She paused her kata, though she knew she wasn't supposed too, to eye her sister suspiciously. She also noted that the others had stopped what they were doing as well.

Marietta felt all eyes on her, and hoped to God no one noticed the blood stains still on her sai. She did not want to end up doing ten flips, all because she'd foolishly forgotten to clean them. She moved just a little bit faster, slightly in a panic, quickly jarring her sai into their sheaths and bowing once her kata had been completed.

Rina put a hand to her mouth to smother a giggle as Marie came to a stop. Her sister looked a bit out of sorts after that exposé of speed; her bandanna was awry and her hair was all in her face.

"Woo, energizer bunny meets ninja girl!" Mikey shouted, twirling a nunchuck over his head.

Marie blushed and nodded at him, "Um, I just wanted to see what it was like to do it fast."

Master Splinter smiled, glad that his daughter had finally put forth a good effort. "That was very good, Marietta, better than your usual kata," he praised.

Marie grinned, happy to get away with her forgetfulness. She noticed Raphael smirking at her, and she knew that he had seen the dirty sai. Oh well, if anyone noticed it, it might as well be him.

As normal practice time wound down, the boys left since they were not having to do extra practice.

"Have fun, troublemakers!" Mikey yelled as he walked out the door.

"Stuff it, Mikey!" the two girls yelled in unison.

Marie gave Rina a tentative smile and she was pleased when Rina returned it. Well, at least Rina wasn't going to be angry with her for forever.

Sensei gave them orders to practice their small-weapons aim and left as well.

Marie pulled out a handful of shuriken and set up a throwing area of her own while Rina pulled the two senbon needles out of her bandanna. They both chose a dummy and started flinging small, pointed objects at it.

"You know, this is stereotypical ninja stuff," mused Rina as her senbon pierced the dummy's stomach.

A couple of shuriken buried themselves in the dummy's torso and Marie smirked, "Yeah, maybe just a bit."

"No, really, we couldn't get any more B-grade ninja movie than throwing shuriken and senbon," said Rina as she sat down on the floor and tossed the second senbon at the dummy. It struck it in the groin area.

"Hey, that's not proper technique," Marie teased, and Rina stuck her tongue out at her sister before flopping down on her stomach.

"I'm injured," she said, creating a scenario in her head. "Yep, I'm injured and this is the only defense I have. Stereotypical senbon and shuriken!"

Marie laughed and sent another trio of shuriken into a dummy.

The two girls continued to joke around and goof off a little bit, as they did their extra practice. So far, extra practice didn't seem to be so bad - it was more fun than it was punishment, and it gave them time to bond and just be by themselves. Eventually though, it ended and they both left the dojo, half sad it had ended, but also half glad it was, so that they could do other things.

Marietta immediately ran to her room, to polish her sai in private in hopes of not having anyone else notice her mistake.

Catarina on the other hand, decided she'd best attempt another bowl of popcorn and hopefully get to it before Raphael did. She set everything up and happily watched the popcorn pop once more.

"Trying again, are we?" Michaelangelo teased coming into the kitchen with an empty glass.

Catarina nodded. "I wouldn't have too, if someone had protected the other bowl better."

"Well, it's not my fault Raph didn't believe me," Mikey laughed. "You know how he is."

"Yeah, the same way Marie is," Rina smirked. "Hard-headed."

Mikey tweaked her bandana tails, and smiled at her as he re-filled his glass with water. "So how was extra practice?"

Catarina smiled slyly. "Not bad...Not bad at all."

Mikey raised an eye ridge. "And this coming from someone who was totally peeved about them last night?"

"Yeah, well, things change, you know," Catarina replied. "I'm not so mad at Marie anymore - for now."

"Oh yes, for now," Mikey nodded smiling. "I knew it wouldn't last long."

"Well, she's my sister - and partner in crime," Rina argued slightly. "Somebody hasta stay on her side for a while."

"Who says I ever left?" Mikey smirked, causing Catarina to laugh.

"You'll side with anybody, so long as it keep them happy."

"Maybe...maybe not," Michaelangelo winked.

Meanwhile, Marie was polishing her sai until they shined like never before. She couldn't believe she had been so foolish - and had actually gotten away with it!

"You're lucky no one else noticed," a voice spoke then, startling her. "You would've been in deep shit then."

Marie gave a sigh of relief, realizing it was her brother in red. She went on polishing her prized weapons. "Yeah, well, if I hadn't been too peeved last night, maybe I would've remembered to clean them," she replied, finishing up the one and setting it aside, as she started in on the second.

Raphael picked up the discarded sai and maneuvered it around in his hand. He had given this to Marie when she was nine and had decided that the sai was the weapon for her. It had been his when he was younger; his sai nowadays were longer and heavier. It was a good size for her though, and whether he told her or not, he was proud that she had chosen the sai. He half-hoped that she wouldn't turn out exactly the way he was; he wanted her to question the conventional, but he didn't want her doing the stupid dangerous stuff he did. That was why he was hard on her sometimes when she was acting too much like himself.

"Yah know, you're actually getting pretty good with these, squirt," he said as he tossed the sai back onto the bed stand.

"Really?" Marie exclaimed, glad to receive praise from him. "I've been practicing hard; I wanna get really good with 'em."

"Not as good as me, though," Raphael said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his plastron.

"One day!" said Marie, grinning at him excitedly, "I am gonna be as good as you one day."

"You wish," he said, pushing away from the wall. "Don't treat your sai like crap," he advised, "Since they're what's going to keep you alive in the end."

"I know," Marie said, rolling her eyes, "I just forgot last night."

Rina walked into the living room with her bowl of popcorn and sat down in the arm chair. She curled up protectively around the bowl, determined to deter her siblings from stealing it. As a precaution, she looked around and yelled, "Anyone that touches my popcorn besides me loses a finger! My kaiken makes no exceptions!"

"Going for the Code of Hammurabi?" asked Donatello with a grin. He was sitting on the couch, watching Mythbusters.

Rina smirked and nodded, "If that's what it takes. Want some?"

Donnie wrinkled her nose at her double-standard but nodded. She leapt off the arm chair and landed on the couch beside him. As he reached for the popcorn, she stared at him with wide hazel eyes. "What?" he asked, his hand hovering over the bowl.

"Dude, I just said you'd lose a finger. Didn't you hear me?"

"But you just said…" he exclaimed, one eye ridge raised. He then laughed and held out a hand. "Rina, could you hand me some popcorn?"

"Of course!" she said, pulling out a handful and giving it to him.

"Why, thank-you," Donatello said, accepting the handful of popcorn, shaking his head at his sister. Catarina sure could be silly at times – especially when it came to her beloved popcorn.

"So what's happening on Mythbusters?" Catarina asked curiously, stuffing some popcorn into her mouth.

"They're trying to prove whether or not Big Foot is real," Donatello answered.

"Isn't that kinda like trying to prove whether or not teenage mutant ninja turtles exist?" Catarina queried, her eyes lighting up in a teasing tone.

Donatello tweaked her bandana tails in response. "In a way, yes, silly," he replied. "But at the same time, no; they believe Big Foot to be just a legend. Mutant turtles, well, they've never even heard of."

"Didn't you guys meet Big Foot though?" Rina questioned him, her eyes now on her brother instead of the show.

"We met something that could've very well been Big Foot," Donatello nodded. "But, she prefers to not be told she's big feet."

Catarina giggled. "Are you just making this up?"

"Maybe…..maybe not," Donatello said, smiling as he turned back to his show.

Catarina shook her head. Who knew if Donnie was telling the truth or not – sometimes they did meet up with other weird creatures, that were mutants like themselves – but sometimes, her brothers did like to tell tall tales just to try and impress them or make them laugh.

Donatello smiled more, as his sister snuggled into him, making sure his arm draped over her shoulders. It didn't matter how old the girls were, they still liked to snuggle – and they probably always would.

"You think they'll ever try to prove if we're real or not?" Rina asked on the next commercial break.

Donatello shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I'd hope not, as then we'd have all sorts of intruders down here trying to find us – and people could end up seriously hurt, if they don't know their way around the sewers. Besides, we're trained ninja and know how to stay hidden well enough to hopefully avoid having that happen anytime soon." He eyed Catarina warily. "At least, I hope we know well enough to stay hidden and avoid having that happen."

"We're careful, don't worry," Catarina assured him with a smile. "We know how to use stealth and shadows to our advantage."

"Let's just keep it that way, okay?" Donatello told her. "Marie finds out she has a chance to be on T.V. and who knows what she'll do to get that kind of attention."

"Well, she can be a very good actress," Catarina reminded him. "She's been able to fake sick quite a bit, without anybody – not even you – catching on."

"She does that a little _too_ well, if you ask me," Donatello commented, as the show resumed.

Raphael still stood watching his sister clean her sai; she seemed to be taking her sweet old time with the second one for some reason unknown to him. "Do you favour this one more than the other?" He asked finally. "You've been cleaning it quite a bit more than the first."

Marietta shrugged. "This one just seems to need more cleaning, is all," she replied. "And I don't have favourites – the other would get jealous."

Raphael snorted – she could sure have an odd sense of humor at times. "Did you at least clean your shuriken?"

Marietta looked a bit sheepish. "No. They're next," she answered, setting the sai she'd been cleaning down next to its twin. She pulled her shuriken out and began to clean them carefully. "I said I was too peeved to remember anything last night."

"You better watch Sensei doesn't catch on," Raphael stated. "He does, and you just may end up losing them for a while."

"I'd like to see him try," Marietta muttered, as she polished a shuriken.

Raphael eyed her for a moment. "You ought to give Splinter a bit of a break," he said finally. "He cares more than you think, and is only trying to do what's best. He doesn't want to see you hurt, over something foolish. Especially not something that could've been easily avoided."

"Fine, _Leo_," Marie remarked. "Maybe when he realizes I'm _not_ five anymore and gives _me_ a break, I'll give him a break."

Raphael was by her in an instant, grabbing her shurikens and tossing them aside onto her bed. He towered over her, as she looked up, and he leaned down right in her face, a stubby finger jabbed in front of her nose.

"Listen here, you ungrateful little runt," he snarled. "Master Splinter gives breaks to those who've _earned_ them! You keep being a disrespectful little imp, and you're never gonna deserve one! Maybe you ought to count all the good things, and be grateful for what you already have!"

Marietta stared up at her brother wide-eyed and a little scared. This was twice in less than twenty-four hours that he'd gotten mad at her and jabbed his finger in her face – this had to be a new record for her. Usually, she'd get him mad one day and then again a couple days later – but _never_ twice in less than twenty-four hours! _Never_! "Then maybe he should show _me_ some respect," Marietta stated, though she'd cowered some and her voice wasn't as strong and hateful as usual.

Raphael gave a half snort, half growl. "_Marie, I'm about two seconds for knocking some serious sense into your pretty little head!_"

Marie backed away from him some, still remaining on her bed. Her eyes filled with unwanted tears, as she tried to fully register what he'd just said.

"And _then_ who will you go crying too, huh? _Master Splinter_?" Raphael went on. "Convenient you only go to him when you've been hurt and decide you need justice, you _don't_ deserve!"


	5. Fist Fights & Motocycling

Hey y'all! Back again with some more! Lol. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only own Catarina, Marietta, baddies, & story idea! Mirage Studios owns everything TMNT! Thank-you!

* * *

"Raph…" Marie said softly, the tears welling up and pushing at the corners of her eyes. He usually wasn't this harsh to her; his anger was often only directed towards Leonardo.

"Save it, Marie!" Raphael snapped, shaking his head furiously. "For the past few weeks, all I've heard out of you is whining and bitching and complaining! Did you just get your period or somethan? Hell, every time I turn around it's "Master Splinter's a retard!" or "Leo has a stick up his ass!" Didja ever think for a second, just one second, that they're hard on you because if they didn't you'd be lying out in the streets somewhere, dead?"

Raph let out an angry shout and shot a punch at the wall. "You know what's gonna happen? One of these days, you're going to be out on patrol or somethan and you're going to do somethan retarded and either you or Rina's gonna get hurt or killed. What're you gonna do then, Marie, when Rina's lying on the ground, bleeding to death? Yell at Master Splinter some more?"

"Shut up, Raph!" screeched Marie suddenly, grabbing her pillow and throwing it at her brother's head.

He snatched one of her sai off the table stand and sliced the pillow in half before it reached his face. Furious, Raphael leapt forward, an arm hauled back to punch her in the face.

"Damn, if you aren't the pot calling the kettle freakin' black! You're always rebelling against Master Splinter and Leo, and getting yourself caught up in stupid situations!"

His fist trembled with barely contained rage but Marie continued, "You ass! Quit yelling at me when you're doing exactly what you're telling me not to do!"

Marie could see some of the fire go out of Raphael's eyes and his fist lowered.

"Marie," he growled, "Shape up." Still angry, he stomped out of the girls' room, nearly running into Mikey. "Move it, Mikey," he snarled, shoving past his younger brother.

"Whoa, sorry, ya bulldozer," Mikey teased. He had overheard the entire screaming match between the two hot-heads of the family; heck, everyone had heard them.

Rina and Mikey had played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would talk to whom. Rina had ended up being sent off to track Raph down while Mikey went to comfort Marie. Donatello had decided that his safest bet would be to continue watching TV.

"Hey, kiddo," Mikey said, knocking on the doorframe, "Mind if I come in?"

After Raphael had left, Marie had curled up on her bed and covered her head with one of her stuffed animals. She had never yelled at Raph like that before; she was amazed that he hadn't struck her or pummeled her or something bad like that.

"Whatever," Marie mumbled into her animal. She had started crying but they were silent tears.

Mikey sat down on the bed and shook his head. "Sometimes, I think Raphael's trying to tear down the sewers by yelling. If anyone could do it, he could," Mikey joked.

"Yeah, bet he could," said Marie as Mikey pulled her close to him and hugged her.

It was pretty easy for Catarina to find Raphael. There was one place that he found comfort in when he was angry; the garage. As she walked into the spacious room, she could hear metal tools flying around and smacking into things. As a wrench pinged off the Battle Shell, she gave a disapproving tch. "Dude, you dent it and Donatello will make you get him a new one."

"Rina, get out!" shouted Raph as he shook a hammer at her.

She shrugged and walked over to Donatello's Shell Cycle. She straddled it and put her hands on the handle bars. "Hey, you still haven't given me my next riding lesson," she said, leaning forward as if she was driving.

Raphael gave an irritated huff. "This ain't the time to ask for one."

"I know, I know," said Rina as she swung her leg back over the side and smiled at him, "I was just telling you."

Raphael grabbed a wrench and went over to his own Shell Cycle. He bent down and starting tightening a screw.

Rina sat there in silence, not really watching him, just letting him cool off. She had learned that the best way to let Raphael calm down was to let him work on his Shell Cycle and yell or throw things and just sit there while he did it. The turtle family had found out a while ago that Raphael calmed down quicker if there was someone to talk to nearby that wouldn't fight with him.

"Rina, hand me that can of oil," Raphael demanded and Rina quietly went off to do as he asked.

Raphael immediately grabbed the oil can from his sister, once she'd handed it to him. He silently raged as he oiled his bike up, doing his best to ignore Catarina's occasional stares. He knew she was just waiting for him to open up, but it'd be a bit before he did so, as he hadn't been this mad in a long time. And it'd never before been directed at one of his sisters - especially not Marie, who he knew idolized him. A half hour or so later, he finally broke the thick silence that hung in the air.

"One of these days, her foolishness is gonna cost her, her life," Raphael stated, still tinkering away on his motorbike. "She's gonna get in some kinda mischief, an' we're not gonna be able to get there in time to save her."

Catarina shook her head. "You've never seen her on patrol, Raph," Catarina pointed out. "Sensei always sticks her with Leo. But when she's out on patrol, she's careful and she's ready to defend whoever needs defending - whether it be us or complete strangers."

Raphael eyed Catarina skeptically. "Yeah, you'd say that," he told her. "Y'all just wanna be able to go on back out there together, instead of with us."

"You ever stop to think maybe she's a point, Raph?" Catarina countered. "She's learned most her attitude and stuff from you. She idolizes the ground you walk on, though it annoys Leo to no end. She's always been hard-headed too. She doesn't know any other way, and now she's trying to find herself, but nobody's given her any room to do so. Nor am I getting any room to do so either."

"Rina, you guys didn't hear half of what was said in that room of yours," Raphael retorted. "Someone has to get her to shape up, and if it hasta be me, then so be it."

Rina rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds like an experience," she said, skipping over towards the other Shell Cycles. She was definitely getting tired of all this talk about Marie. She had grown used to it over the years, what with everyone always fussing about Marie and her hard-headed, fiery nature. Every time Marie went off the handle like this, it seemed like everyone had to get their say in. She was of the opinion that if everyone just ignored Marie, she'd stop fighting it and calm down. Rina walked around one of the Shell Cycles, looking the slim motorcycle up and down. She and Donnie were actually working on this one whenever they had the time; she was dying to get a motorcycle of her own. She put her hand on the rear wheel and grinned uncertainly, "Hey, Raph?"

"What?" he grunted, throwing down a wrench and snatching up a screwdriver.

"What about that lesson now?" she asked hopefully.

He paused and glanced back at her. "What time is it?"

Rina looked down at her watch, "9:00 pm." They were nocturnal for certain obvious reasons.

Raphael rubbed his finger against the screwdriver and smirked, "You're grounded, y'know? And I got patrol at 12:00."

"But Raph," whined Rina, sitting down on the seat of Mikey's bike, "Your bike really needs to be tested out and I can't let you go by yourself."

Raphael crossed his arms and snorted, "Wait, little mini-leader wants to break the rules?"

"Raph!" Rina wailed, "I'm not a mini-leader!"

Raphael nodded and stood up from the floor. He looked like he was going to head back into the lair but then he reached over and picked up the blue and white helmet from the shelf, "Well, Rin, let's see watch you got."

"YES!" shouted Rina, grabbing the helmet and shoving it on her head.

"Do you want to go eat some ice cream or something?" Mikey asked after Marie had had a good long cry. Marie shrugged her shoulders and Mikey laughed, "I'm taking that as a yes." He pulled her to her feet and they walked to the kitchen.

Marie flopped down into a chair at the table while Mikey rushed around, getting together stuff for ice cream Sundaes. It was his policy, that avoiding talking about what made you angry would help you get over it faster.

Marie watched her brother in orange gather everything he'd need to make them their sundaes. He was always good at cheering people up - whether he had ice cream or not. "Hey, Mikey?" She began softly.

Mikey glanced over at her. "Yeah?" He replied.

"Don't forget the chocolate sauce, or I'll be forced to murder someone," Marie smirked.

Michaelangelo laughed and grabbed the chocolate sauce out of the fridge. "But of course!" He stated, setting it down on the table. "Can't have you going off and killing nobody, can we?"

Marie shook her head, already starting to feel a bit better, though not completely.

Meanwhile, Raphael was giving Catarina her bike lesson that she'd been longing for since forever. "Now, you gotta pull the throttle back like this," he showed her. "Then hit the gas, and off we go - but don't hit the gas too hard! I don't wanna be flyin' offa this damned thing at who knows how many miles per hour!"

Catarina smiled sweetly. "I'd never do that to you, Raphie," she told him. "You're nice enough to take me out, so why should I make you fly?"

Raphael just snorted, and got settled on the back of the bike. He'd driven them out of the garage, so they'd be well enough away, before finally letting her drive. Besides, he knew where all the actual peaceful city streets were anyway.

Catarina tightened her helmet, and turned the throttle like her brother had shown her, before hitting the gas pedal - sending them roaring off into the night. She drove along quite well for a while, before having to finally turn, almost losing control of the bike.

"Careful!" Raphael barked from behind her, holding on for dear life. Sure he had taught himself, but he didn't have a passenger on the back of his bike. He knew humans never taught other humans to ride motorbikes this way, as only one person was allowed on the bike until they knew how to drive. But, he figured, this way, should he need to keep her from crashing, all he'd have to do is reach over her and grab the handle bars. He was a pro at this, after all.

Catarina kept going, though their near spill had scared her some - not that she'd admit it anytime soon or anything. She drove along until she finally spotted a nice quiet looking park. She pulled to a stop, and took her helmet off, as they parked the bike. "Here looks like a good resting spot," she smiled. Raphael nodded, climbing off the back of the bike.

"Good 'nough as any," he agreed.

Mikey slid the sundae bowl in front of his little sister and then sat down at the table next to her. "Soooo," he said, scooping an unhealthy amount of chocolate ice cream into his own bowl. "Seen any good movies lately?"

Marie gave a feeble smile, "No…"

She knew very well that he was just trying to take her mind off matters. It was just something he did; he hated strife in the family. If it was Mikey's world, Marie mused, it would be full of unicorns and elves and epic magical battles and superheroes and pizza. Maybe his world wasn't so bad after all.

"Hey, have you been working on any good stories lately?" she asked as she took the ice cream scoop from him and launched into the chocolate. If he was going to avoid the subject of Raphael, she might as well avoid it to. It'd be nice to be civil for a while instead of high-strung and angry. Not that she had given up being angry; she had just decided that she'd mute her anger for now.

Mikey groaned as he snatched up the sprinkles. "Gah, I've been tryin', but nothing good is comin," he said, leaning against the table. "It's a total bummer."

"Are you still working on the story about the boy becoming a ninja and he has to find the five elements?" she asked. She loved listening to Michelangelo's stories; she could remember when he used to make them up and tell them to her and Rina when they were younger.

Mikey nodded, "Yeah, I'm stuck. I've got Harris and the others sitting around a campsite, but they're not talking about anything interesting. It's just filler."

"Maybe they could be attacked," Marie suggested.

Mikey shook his head as he grabbed the chocolate sauce and liberally squirted it onto his ice cream, "Naw, that's already happened like, twice."

"Hey, hey, save some for me!" Marie yelped, reaching out and snatching the bottle. Mikey laughed and nudged her with his elbow, "Chill out, Marie, I'm not gonna use it all."

"That's what Donnie said last time," Marie growled as she got her share of the chocolate sauce.

Mikey laughed as he remembered what had happened to Donatello. "You didn't have to chase him around with a rolling pin."

"He should consider himself lucky that I couldn't find the butcher knives…"

"Kid, if you had skewered Donnie with a butcher knife, I'm pretty sure he would've hit you with his bo."

"Why are we skewering me?" Donatello asked as he entered the kitchen, a half-worried look on his face.

Marietta gave him a pleasant smirk, "We aren't. Yet."

"He's right, though," said Donnie, walking over to the cabinets and pulling out a bowl, "I would have to hit you with my bo if you knifed me."

"Well, don't eat all my chocolate sauce next time," Marie warned, putting some caramel on her sundae.

"It's not your chocolate sauce," retorted Don as he grabbed the chocolate sauce. He too was rather addicted to the chocolatety goodness, and if any one was going to claim it, it was going to be him. "This chocolate sauce, with all its sugar and unhealthy additives, belongs to the whole family! You cannot lay claim on this chocolate sauce. It is not owned by anyone in particular, and I shall not stand for greediness when it comes to this chocolate sauce!" Donnie raised the chocolate sauce above his head, "This chocolate sauce stands for goodness, righteousness and the right to choose toppings for yourself! It is a symbol of free will! It is amazing!"

Marie and Mikey shared a long look after Donatello had finished his rant about chocolate sauce.

"So…can I have it back?" Marie asked.

"No," Don replied, holding the chocolate sauce close to himself, "Not yet."

"You're hogging the chocolate sauce!" Mikey shouted incredulously. "After that whole long speech, you're hogging the chocolate. Crazy."

"No, purposeful!" announced Donatello happily.

"I think you've lost it," Marie said, grabbing a spoon to start eating.

"No, I haven't. I was just telling you my thoughts on the ice cream," he said as he picked up a spoon and headed back out into the living room.

Marie and Mikey were silent for a minute before bursting into laughter.

Rina jumped off of the bike and put her helmet down on the seat. She loved being outside of the sewers and in the free air. Excited, she did cartwheel and followed it with a one-handed round-off. She then flopped down in the nicely cut grass and sighed with contentment.

Raphael rolled his eyes at her behavior but he understood the sentiment. He too hated being trapped in the sewers day after day; his favorite memories were of vacations spent at April's farmhouse in New Hampshire.

"Man, stupid lights," Rina muttered, her head tilted back to look up at the sky, "You can't see the stars."

Raphael glanced up and saw that because of the light pollution from the city, it was impossible to see the shining stars. He pointed over towards the right, "Hey there's one."

"Raph, that's an air plane," replied Rina, tossing her older brother a teasing grin.

"Zat so, smart ass?" he asked, grabbing her by the arm and giving her a noogie.

"Raphaellll!" she cried, trying to free herself from his strong grasp. It was a good thing that the park they were in was secluded.

After torturing Rina, Raphael grabbed her helmet and tossed it to her. "C'mon, slacker, yer lessons not done yet."

Smirking, Rina shoved the helmet back on her head and walked over to the bike. "Hey, how about I take off by myself and you just walk back to the lair?"

"Fat chance," said Raphael as the two of them climbed onto the bike.

"Fine…" she replied but a very mischievous smirk scrawled across her face. Revving the engine, she hit the gas and popped the bike up into a wheelie.

Caught off guard, Raph slipped off the back as the bike darted forward. "Rina!" he shouted angrily as she put the front wheel back down and did a u-ey to get back to him.

"Whoops, sorry Raph, didn't mean to do that," she said, her head tilted to the side.

He couldn't see her face behind the reflective helmet but he could tell from her body language that she was lying. "Do it again and I'll take a sai to that bow of yours."

"I said it was an accident!"

"Yeah, yeah, accident, on purpose, whatever. Just drive."

Rina took them around a few more streets under Raphael's directions. They were heading back to the lair when Rina noticed something going on out of the corner of her eye. She felt Raphael shift behind her; he had seen it too. Someone was breaking into a building from an alleyway. Thinking quickly, she leaned the right and slid the bike back around.

She leaned back to look at her older brother, "Are we going back?"

He was silent for a moment and then said, "Do you got your kaiken?"

"Yeah," she replied; when was she ever without them?

"Then yeah, we're going back. Might as well start acting like a team now," he said, his voice gruff with growing excitement. "You stay on the defense, though; don't go puttin' yourself in danger, I don't wanna explain nothin' to Master Splinter."

"Got it," Rina replied.

Raphael loved to fight off bad guys; it was almost like it was what he was born to do, right the injustice of the world.

Rina revved the engine and drove back to the alleyway. As the bike screeched to a halt, Raphael leapt off the back and brandished his sai.

"What we got here?" Raph asked, looking around at the crooks as he twirled one sai.

They didn't seem like Purple Dragons or Foot Ninja. They looked like thieves for hire, which meant they probably wouldn't work as a team. All the better!

"What'zat?" asked one of the robbers. "Looks like a vigilante to me," said another one. He carefully put down the box he was carrying and cracked his knuckles.

Raphael laughed, "Hey, big fella, I'd be careful if I was youse." "And whys that? You're the one who's gonna be black and blue."

"He's already green!" a third crook shouted with a laugh.

"Just wouldn't want ya to hurt your manicure," mocked Raph and the big buy growled angrily.

While Raph bantered with the enemy, Rina took in a good look at their surroundings. This was actually one of the better parts of town; it was an industrial district. She noticed some cardboard boxes poking out a trash bin with bio-hazard symbols on them. There was a plastic glove on the ground. Maybe it was a medical facility of some kind.

"Get 'em!" One of the burglars exclaimed, and the six of them attacked Raphael, not noticing Catarina who was still kind of hidden, as she looked around warily.

Raphael fought, hardly giving the guys a chance to get a swing or kick in - which of course he'd been trained to do. "Yanno, y'all must be pretty stupid if yah think yah can outsmart me," Raphael commented, dodging a sidekick and grabbing the guy's foot. With a swift move, he sent the thug flying backwards head over heels. "I mean, c'mon! Ain't y'all got any skills? Y'all fight like over-sized monkeys! A snail could fight better than y'all!"

The six men growled and kept attacking, suddenly seeming stronger than before.

Catarina grew bored watching them and suddenly popped up out of no where, kicking the one guy in the back of the head with the high flying spin kick she'd been learning recently. The man went flying forwards, landing flat on his face with a loud THUD! Catarina rolled her eyes.

"You guys can't be that good, if I can use a move I don't know well, and knock you down," she stated, quickly pulling her kaiken out and preparing herself to fight.

"I said they don't got any skills," Raph laughed, dancing about as he moved quickly to avoid his attackers.

Catarina shook her head, as she helped her brother fight. All was going well, until suddenly bigger and stronger reinforcements appeared, all attacking at once.

Raphael growled as one got a good punch to his jaw in. "Rina! Watch yerself! These punks are better than the first bunch o'creeps!"

"I - OOMPH!" Catarina exclaimed, yelping as she was kicked in the plastron. These new guys were pretty tough.

Rina stumbled backwards and nearly lost grasp of her kaiken. Raphael was quick to step in front of her, viciously attacking the guy who had kicked her.

"You okay, Rina?" he shouted back at her as one of the goons aimed a punch at his face.

"Never better," she mused as she jumped to his side, flinging her elbow into a man's stomach.

She channeled her anger into energy and her energy into speed. If she wasn't the best fighter out of her siblings, she was definitely one of the fastest. She prided herself on her speed and the suddenness of her attacks. She twirled amongst their enemies, her small blades piercing their sides, slicing their arms and legs. They would reach out the grab her but she just darted out of reach. She was the agility while Raphael was the powerhouse. After Rina would confuse them, he would land one of his massive attacks on them. They made a pretty good team; of course, the whole family knew how to work well with one another.

"Hey, Rin, wanna lift?" Raphael called to Rina over the battle as he attacked a particularly large man. She was busy with one of the smaller reinforcements. He kept swinging and she kept bobbing and teasing him with her kaiken.

"Sure!" she replied and raced towards him, the smaller, very irritated man following her. He braced his arm as she leapt into the air. She landed on his forearm and a quick upward thrust sent her flying into the air towards the guy Raph had been fighting. A quick twist in the air sent one of her kaiken into his shoulder while she landed with both feet in his chest.

Meanwhile, Raphael knocked the lights out of the smaller goon that Rina had been dealing with. As Rina rejoined Raphael at the older turtle's side, blood dripping from both turtles' blades, the remaining thieves moved back. They weren't prepared to deal with ninja turtles, that was sure.

"Forget it, drop everything," one of them, a leader of sorts, said, "The bosses won't care all that much. And we got something new to tell 'em."

"Who said we're gonna let you leave?" demanded Raphael, dropping down into an attack position.

"This," replied the man as he held up a small object. Rina narrowed her eyes, unsure of what it was. The man threw it on the ground and it started leaking out a white gas.

"Tear gas," growled Raphael as he held his forearm up to his face. Rina grabbed the tail of her bandanna and held it over her mouth. "C'mon, Rina, the police'll show up soon," said Raphael as he headed back towards the bike.

Rina let him drive, and she glanced down at her wristwatch. They weren't late, as of yet. Actually, they would make it back in time for them to pretend that they had been fixing the bike the entire time.


End file.
